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A Shoeview resident who is the Minnesota GOP Fourth Congressional District chair was chastised for a Facebook post warning of Muslim “infiltration” of Republican caucuses.

Dave Sina’s Jan. 29 post, which he said in a statement he’d copied from elsewhere, claimed Muslims had been trained to show up at caucuses, especially Republican events, to push their agenda. The post was deleted shortly after it went up.

Criticism towards those who posted, or reposted the message, has come from local politicians, including Republicans, the League of Women Voters and the Minnesota Council on American-Islamic Relations, which called for Sina’s removal as district chair.

“It is a sad state of affairs when encouraging positive civic engagement by a minority community provokes such a bigoted, conspiratorial and un-American reaction,” CAIR-MN Executive Director Jaylani Hussein said in a statement.

Minnesota GOP Chair Jennifer Carnahan, in a statement, said there “is no religious test to participate in the Republican caucus. We welcome those who are in agreement with the values of the Republican Party, those who voted Republican in the last election or plan to vote with the party in November.”

Reached for comment via email, Sina said the message was supposed to be welcoming to Republicans.

“My intent on [reposting] this article was to encourage all Republicans to attend and participate in the precinct caucus process,” Sina said. “We, as Americans, have the duty and obligation to guard and protect our constitutional republic and one of the ways that we do so here in Minnesota is to engage in our precinct caucuses.”

The message, originally posted by Rep. Cindy Pugh from Chanhassen, details a “report” from a “friend” of another GOP official who attended a “Muslim Caucus Training” session designed “to mobilize Muslims to infiltrate our Republican caucuses.”

The post said that the Muslim people who gathered at a mosque for the meeting were told that the American political system is “very easy to penetrate,” that “Americans don’t show up,” and that Muslim people should form “faith delegate squads.” The attendees were allegedly set to push policy agendas aimed at looser immigration laws, religious justice, education funding and getting a handle on Islamophobia.

The post concluded with a call to all “fellow patriots and brothers and sisters in Christ to take a stand to protect our futures,” by showing up at Republican caucuses.

Sina’s wife, Candy Sina, ran unsuccessfully as a Republican for the Disrict 42 State Senate seat in 2016. According to Candy Sina’s website for her Senate campaign, the Sinas have been residents of Shoreview for over 30 years.